Becoming the parent of a child who is different can be an incredibly difficult experience. This mother explains her journey.

Amanda Schuster and her husband Robert had been trying to conceive a child for some time.

After a few months, they began to suspect that they may have become infertile. They were even considering getting medical help when Amanda missed her period.

She took a test and discovered that her efforts had paid off. She was pregnant!

Amanda already had a five-year-old child. But as she and her husband were almost in their 40s, they were worried that it could be a difficult pregnancy. After all, it had been much harder to conceive this time around.

At 10 weeks into the pregnancy, Amanda took genetic testing on the fetus at the recommendation of her doctor. The tests said that the child was healthy. They also said that she would be a girl.

The parents told their son, Baron, the great news, and he was overjoyed.

For the next few months, they were one happy family. They were so excited to meet their new family member, when they heard the shocking news.

Amanda went in for a routine scan, expecting to hear that her child was perfectly healthy still. She was wrong.

Amanda and Robert could tell that there was a serious issue when the medical worker went over and over the scan of the baby’s head.

All that the worker eventually said was that she had to get the radiologist.

As the husband and wife waited to find out the problem, they held hands, and Amanda started weeping.

Eventually, the worker came back and told them to meet the doctor on the next floor.

Upstairs, the doctor explained to the expectant parents that they had detected an anomaly with their baby’s skull. Further scanning revealed that the baby had a kind of dwarfism that would make it difficult for the child to survive outside of the womb.

Luckily, the parents met with another doctor, who told them that the initial diagnosis was incorrect.

Instead, the baby had Pfeiffer Syndrome, which is what happens when the skull fuses prematurely during pregnancy. This meant that the child would look deformed on her face, but vitally, she would be healthy with a few procedures.

With a greater understanding of their child’s condition, Amanda and Robert tried to come to terms with raising someone who would be different.

Eventually, Amanda went into labor and rushed with Robert to the hospital. After a short procedure, Emmy was in the world.

“Even though we had prepared ourselves as best as we could, it was still a shock to see Emmy in the flesh. Her eyes were huge, her skull was misshapen, and they intubated her immediately before I even got to look at her. She also has the most beautiful blue eyes and dark hair” – Amanda.

For the next four months, Emmy and Amanda stayed in the hospital. The doctors did all they could to ensure that Emmy would be able to breathe normally and that she was healthy in every other way.

By the time Emmy was 18 months old, she had had around 20 surgeries. And in the future, she will have many more.

Amanda, Robert, Baron and everyone else in their family will show Emmy unconditional love as she grows up.

They know that Emmy will never look like other kids and that she will have to face bullying. But her family members will do all that they can to make her succeed in life.

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Source: Love What Matters